public nuisance radio show no. 65 : funk bast*rd (cosa nostra)

home grown funk bast*rd just recently back from his european tour with faces records is serving us with his next installment of the public nuisance show. if you enjoy this mix of funk, soul, boogie, dub, jazz and it keeps on going and going, if you enjoyed your musical journey like we did; we will see you at Pushin' On on the 30th of July!

Public Nuisance show No. 65 w the Funk Bast*rd (Cosa Nostra) by Cosa Nostra

CREEP BY HIROSHI AWAI , SS11

in store soon

Tim Hamilton

I've been a long time fan of Tim Hamilton, and even had the opportunity to attend two of his shows, so I was happy to see he's nailed it again with his Spring '11 collection. Instead of discussing this show in particular, I want to pick out a quality of his clothing that runs through all his work. His looks are always relevant, and his style continues to evolve, but it never slips into the turbulent waters of trend. This is because the clothing's style spring from its construction. His suits aren't just immaculately tailored, they are tailored for a purpose. In the case of the Spring '11 show that purpose seems to be the exploration of uniforms. Borrowing an architectural adage, in Tim Hamilton's work, "Form follows function." And as a result it stands in stark contrast to the work of many other labels, young and old, whose garments seem to be splattered with trend like a bad spray tan. The pay off of Tim Hamilton's approach - clothing that works individually, as a collection, and stays wearable for seasons to come. Proof below.

-MRC, New York City

Song Combo: Menehan Street Band & The Bamboos

Going the Distance


The Witch

Naked and Famous denim

The many sides of Naked and Famous. In no particular order they range from about 2mths-8mths of wear. 1-3 washes/soaks.

Now in store in Weird Guy, Skinny Guy and Slim Guy cuts. SGD 229-279 and Yes, we do ship overseas for Free!

Pictures courtesy of Superfuture forum. Join it here

Summer Weekend Reading

Now that life has settled into the temporary repose brought about by warm weather and the lure of vacation, I recommend you pick up a copy of the Financial Times weekend edition, FT Weekend, and spend an afternoon by the pool. This pink paper has four sections: World News and Business, Life and Arts, House and Home, and How To Spend It, a shopping guide for the fantastically rich and cultured. I wish I could say I read it cover to cover, but I tend to focus on the Life and Arts section. It can easily be read in an afternoon, even when taking the odd nap between columns.

If the title didn't already give it away, this section covers the latest developments in the art world, from reviews of new theater performances and publications, to analyses of recent auctions. One of my favorite pieces is the full page interview with a prominent cultural figure entitled “Lunch with FT.” At the end of every interview is a list of what was ordered, and the cost of the meal. What better way to get to know the art world's celebrities? And fans of Monocle Magazine will be happy to know they can find a weekly Tyler Brule column on the back page entitled “Life in the Fast Lane,” in which he surveys the past week of his extensive travels.

Altogether, the content is entertaining enough to make reading it a treat rather than a chore, and more than informative enough to keep your mind from turning into the porridge you ate for breakfast as the start to your new healthy life style. If nothing else, you will have something interesting to discuss during your late night summer dinners.

- MRC, New York City

This is what you want to look like at 55!

Beautiful beard, beautiful hair, beautiful glasses.

Song Combo: Arawak & RD Burman

Accadde A Bali


Shalimar Title Theme Song

sifr essentials : isetan pop-up

we've completed the setup of the first pop-up at isetan scotts, it's an exciting time for us as we start our relationship with this japanese retail giant. we are curating a series of pop ups with isetan singapore. keep your eyes peeled in the coming months as we will be launching some new sifr and sifr essentials products with them. below are a few snapshops i managed to take while we were prepping the materials and setting up the space.

our popup can be found at isetan scotts, menswear department(3f) right behind the agnes b section. we are there till the 29th of july.











sincerely,
sifr

kin & sifr with lo&behold

we’ve recently teamed up with the great people at lo&behold, the group responsible for bringing you: ‘the white rabbit’, ‘loof’, ‘tanjong beach club’, and ‘overeasy’. from the 17th of july to the 31st of august, all lo&behold card members receive a 15% discount on all items excluding sifr(10%) and sale items(+5%). For more information please click the link below.

Song Combo: Nancy Sinatra and Joe Bataan

Bang Bang


Latin Strut

Unlearn Your MBA

A friend passed me the link for the video below a few days ago. A talk done by a programmer and main partner of the web application company 37signals, David Heinemeier Hansson. Although Mr.Hansson's talk is related to programming and code rather than fashion, visual aesthetics and design the underlying business concepts transcend many barriers that define distinct avenues of industry and enterprise. A lot of what is talked about pertains to smaller scale companies. Ideas and insight that can traverse laterally across many forms of product &/or services. If you've got an hour to invest into some great concepts regarding innovation and small business management then please click the video below (Excuse his humor).

Erykah Badu - The Healer

Erykah Badu up front & Madlib working the background.

Ale Et Ange: 37C Orchard Street - Basement

during the summer of 2009 my friend fasil recommended his friends store that is situated in the l.e.s right across the street from the store project no.8. so after walking around orchard street in search of this store i gave him a call and he said to look at the basement. thats when i spotted a tiny painted sign that read 'ale et ange' with flowers placed on both sides, next to the sign sat oshrea chilling out on a beach chair. stepping down the narrow basement staircase i was pleasantly surprised by the interior of the store. a lot of character, thought and effort had gone into the store. one of the best details that shot out at me was all the salvaged furniture and trinkets you can find around the city at garage sales or 2nd hand dealers. the hangers on the racks were ancient, oshrea had said they were old dry cleaner hangers he found in the trash. there's a shelf in the back with vintage toiletries packaged in the same charming way they've always been. bars of soap, toothpaste, lotion all looked like they were out of another era. i almost felt impelled to buy some of the products for my own use.

after talking with oshrea he shed some light on the manufacturing base of the company, pants are from the same factory that produces for engineered garments. the shirts are made from a more interesting location, an apron factory in china town. oshrea had taught the machinist in the apron factory how to sew basic button up shirts and tshirts, a decent job for an apron factory. fabrics that make up some of their products are 15 to 20 some odd years old sourced from back stocked factory storage warehouses out and around the northeast as well as japan.

upon leaving the store (with a shirt and pants), the overall feeling that i felt was that the shop was very much an extension of their own home; an extension of cultural elements from the city. a lot of effort, a lot of personal belongings and scavenged items that completed the interior.

our first shoot in our new home

as promised here are some photos from our new space at tan boon liat just off outram road. we're splitting the space with primary studios and another company. the space is quite a change from our old 400sqft work area on haji lane, we're now able to stretch out to a comfortable 1300sqft. indoor futsal, skating and huge screen projections are now available to us while at work. the lifts also come with operators, they remember your floor numbers and are a vast pool of insider information for what's happening within the 15 levls of tan boon liat.

the images below we're taken while doing our first shoot for the sifr webstore.











sincerely,
sifr

Charles Trees - Mahjongg

We mentioned 'The Dream' ep a few weeks ago put out by Charles Trees on the Musique Large label. Here's his own track off the EP called Mahjongg. Follow this link for a free download off XLR8R.
Mahjongg

We've Moved Out

we moved out of haji lane a few weeks back, and by we i mean the upstairs office that was residence to the sifr and kin paper pushers(us). the store is still intact at number 51, the upstairs is vacant, and we're still trying to figure out the best course of action for space that once sold shoes, housed artwork and roofed a couple of people working together.

touching base on the team of individuals that slowly took over the upstairs space. the evolution of the office space took place over a span of 13 months. from the team being scattered across the two floors (we were measuring clothes on the main counter, conducting meetings on the couch surrounded by shoes, typing out letters on the vintage upholstered chairs). we started to congregate in the upstairs region of the shophouse. next thing we knew shoes went downstairs and there was this huge ping ping table in the middle of the room providing desk space for 3 people.

it's almost been about three months since we've moved into our new residences at tan boon liat building, i think it's about time i throw the move out photos up.

*note my leg is busted that's why i am not helping out with the move



















a lot of people have not seen our new working environment, photos will be up in due time.

Summer Session: NYC - BOS

so it's been a whole year since i fully packed up and shipped out all my belonging from boston back to singapore. here are some photos that encapsulated my last summer state side 2009 (chi-bos-nyc) with the majority of time spent in boston and new york. the brevity of it all makes one wonder how fast the hands of time run. i don't usually clue in personal posts on d.e.a.r. time, but i think i'm going to change that up starting from this one.


setup in boston


abandoned restaurant in southend


wedding in chicago


cubs vs nationals


hedgerow driveway in capecod


public soccer turf by china town, nyc


off bowery


le labo, great concept


favorite vintage shop, bobbys

in the next post i'll be revisiting a store that had me more than impressed last summer.